Canadian Proves EVs Can Handle the Worst with a Gruelling Drive to the Arctic Circle

Most people would find a road trip into Canada’s remote north a gruelling expedition, but to do it in an electric vehicle (EV) in a place where the charging network is limited seems even more daunting. But not for one EV enthusiast. 

Patrick Nadeau proved that an EV can be an excellent adventure vehicle. He left Hyundai Canada’s headquarters in Markham, Ont., in an Ioniq 5 intending to reach Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., at Canada’s very edge, and then driving back. 

Nadeau is a virtual reality (VR) photographer who creates VR experiences that capture landscapes. He works in partnership with Hyundai’s Hope On Wheels, which is a non-profit organization that focuses on helping kids battling cancer. Donations go towards cancer research as well as caring for children already dealing with cancer. A donation is made to Hope On Wheels with every Hyundai sold across Canada. 

The VR experiences Nadeau creates are distributed in partnership with Hope On Wheels free of charge, and allow kids to immersively experience the beauty of the world they cannot see firsthand. 

“Part of this road trip was filming for VR. We mostly filmed Vancouver Island and the Rockies for the kids, so they have a feeling of disconnecting from their reality to experience something exciting,” Nadeau said.

Nadeau is no stranger to taking an EV on a long road trip. He owns an Ioniq 5 and is an avid camper. He has previously driven his EV to Mexico and back from his home in Quebec. The goal of this trip was to capture landscapes like the Grand Canyon and Utah National Parks along the way to turn them into a VR experience. This time, with the help of Hyundai Canada, Nadeau embarked on the opposite direction up the continent to reach Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. 

Despite Nadeau’s experience taking an EV on long road trips, northern Canada is a totally different environment from Mexico and presents one unique challenge: the weather. 

Nadeau said the most challenging part of his trip was heading up to Inuvik, N.W.T., where he had to meet Hyundai’s cameraman at the airport. Heading up from Eagle Plains, Yukon, a small town in the mountains with a population of nine, he was hindered by a combination of rain and snow, which turned the roads slushy and, at times, muddy. Driving in such conditions can drastically reduce the range of an electric vehicle, which Nadeau had to account for or risk being stranded. 

While others in Eagle Plains had decided to wait out the weather, Nadeau didn’t have that option, as he had to make his appointment in Inuvik, N.W.T. 

“The most challenging part is, of course, the Dempster Highway. There's pretty much close to like 365 km without any electricity, not even a volt, and there are two places like that,” Nadeau said.

“I left to Inuvik and that was the most challenging part because I had to do it under the rain and snow, so the road was pretty much mud,” he said. “I arrived with zero per cent battery. It was a bit stressful, and that was the most difficult part of the trip, but I think it's adding to the adventure.”

This was not the only occasion where Nadeau found himself limited by the environment. He was stuck for nearly a week in Dawson City waiting for a ferry that was delayed due to the ice on the river.

On another occasion, a section of the Alaska highway was closed for several days due to the wildfires earlier in the year, also delaying Nadeau’s travels. 

According to Nadeau, finding a place to charge an EV during these long journeys isn’t as difficult as it might seem. From his experience driving to Mexico, Nadeau said all it takes to find charge points is a little bit of extra planning. He would find charge points using the PlugShare app and planned his stops accordingly. 

During his journey, he made stops roughly every 250 km to charge the car. 

“You realize that you don't have to kill time,” he said. “By the time you go to charge, you have to eat stuff, you have to go to the bathroom, you get to answer your phone, and then you're done. So every time, I would say it's probably 35 minutes. It's very fast when you think about it.”

There were several occasions where Nadeau had issues with the charging network, for example, if a charger was offline or out of service. He prepared for situations like this by packing a portable charger, which can plug into a regular household-style outlet and still deliver Level 2 charging speeds. 

Nadeau says about 20 per cent of his trip was spent sleeping in the Ioniq 5, where he had to share his space with about 181 kg (400 lbs) of gear. He said the Ioniq 5 makes an excellent camping vehicle, as the EV’s heater can be used while the vehicle is charging. 

Over his entire trip, Nadeau covered a total of 19,743 km from Hyundai’s head office in Markham, Ont., all the way to Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., and back. At times, Nadeau drove over 1,000 km per day, with his longest single-day journey being nearly 1,100 km. He averaged 18.9 kWh/100 km on his entire journey. 

Nadeau charged a total of 87 times, with an average charge time of 42 minutes. During the trip, a total of $1,403.13 was spent on charging. Doing the trip in the similarly sized gasoline-powered Hyundai Tucson would have cost at least $2,363 under ideal conditions. 

Nadeau continues to work with Hyundai of Canada’s Hope On Wheels. He says there are going to be more road trips of this nature in the future that he hopes will help debunk misconceptions about an EV’s ability to take long journeys. Nadeau will also continue to capture more landscapes to turn into virtual reality experiences, allowing more kids battling cancer to experience the wonders of the world.